


Mean Old World

by schmetterlingstee



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Falling In Love, Fallout inspired AU, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Violence, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, This fic will be LONG, Time Skips, as well as the character and relationships section, later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-03-05 10:02:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13385490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schmetterlingstee/pseuds/schmetterlingstee
Summary: “No matter how you get there or where you end up, human beings have this miraculous gift to make that place home.”Hinata dreamed of leaving his settlement to see the rest of the world all his life. After setting out, with no real destination, he crosses paths with a group of mercenaries who are on the brink of disbanding. But soon The Crows are back in the game, each member with their own hopes, dreams and fears.But they are not the only mercenary group in the wasteland, and there is more to the world than just raiders and wild beasts, that have sprung from 300 years of radiation.





	1. Home on the Wastes

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work for the Haikyuu!! fandom, although I've been in it for some time now. But it took a while to shape the idea I had in mind and here I am working on another story that will have way too many chapters.
> 
> The other schools' teams will play a part in this fic as well in future chapters, but I will only add the characters' tags when they first appear in a chapter. Otherwise the tags will end up super messy.
> 
> I never know what to write here, but something I should probably mention is that English is not my first language! If you spot spelling mistakes or any other errors, please let me know!
> 
> Again, I'll have to edit the tags and maybe some warnings with the course of the story.  
> But for now, please enjoy~

The sun stood at its highest point in the sky and tinted the wasteland in a harsh, bright light. From his bed Hinata watched small white clouds travel across the blue.

Today was slightly colder than usual, he could feel the wind blowing through the walls of his room and the window.

His ‘window’ was not an actual window made out of glass, it was merely a frame with foil partially wrapped across the wood. There were better ways to build a window, but if his family had kept the old boards nailed onto the wall, his room would have been just as dark and gloomy as the rest of their house.

“What is there to see outside?” His mother had asked him back then, but the wasteland offered a better view than she probably realized.

From his small room Hinata could see everything that was going on in the settlement, which usually was not much. But farther away were the slopes of the mountains, which stood warm and red at the horizon, shielding the rest of the wasteland from the settlers' eyes.

Hinata had never left the settlement, but he had this doubts that the rest of the wasteland was much different than the place where he lived. It was probably just as dusty and dry, with occasional rad storms – radioactive thunderstorms that came blowing from the south.

September was coming to an end, but it made no difference to the farmers. Ever since the mushroom wars, there was nothing but eternal summer. A merchant had once shown Hinata and Natsu a book with pictures of people dressed in thick jackets, riding down slopes covered in a white substance. _Snow_. That had been the word for it. Rain that came down frozen from the sky.

Natsu still refused to believe there could be such a thing, all she had ever known was the dry, hot air of the wasteland.

But Hinata knew, in some of the northern regions the weather was different. If only one day he could see snow for himself. But his grandmother had always laughed when he told her about his plans to wander up north.

“Silly boy, you won’t even get far enough to see snow. Everything up there is radiated, haven’t I told you about the great battles before the final day of the war? Heck, the snow itself might not even be white up there, it’s probably glowing green.” She had said.

Hinata rubbed his eyes and yawned. His grandmother was probably right, but he still felt the longing to see more of the world. Not everything could have been destroyed, there still had to be beautiful landscapes in the world out there.

One day.

One day he would leave the settlement and see what was left of the world for himself. Maybe then Natsu would believe there was more than dust and dirt. Perhaps he could take her with him as well at some point.

He rolled over to the side, dug his face into the pillow and gazed out of the window to the sky.

He could dream of travelling all he wanted, but it would not fulfill him in any way until he dared to set foot outside the boundaries of the settlement. At some point he would probably do it, but he was afraid.

The wasteland was a cruel place, even just wandering the roads could get someone killed. Raider gangs lurked at every corner, killing people without any warning and the beasts and critters roaming the wastes were not any better.

Hinata had practiced aiming and self-defending himself with his father’s old rifle, something that had ended with his mother scolding him for wasting ammunition and scaring the old farmer’s animals.

But he had inherited his father’s talent for handling the rifle. All he knew about him was that he had once been a ranger somewhere up north in a bigger settlement. But that had been long ago and now all he had left behind was his Rangemaster hunting rifle.

Suddenly the door was thrown open and he heard his sister shouting. “Geckos! There are Geckos at the water supply!” Natsu ran up to the bed and pulled Hinata off the mattress. “Mama asked me to get some water for the plants, but then one of the beats jumped out from behind the rocks!”

Hinata jumped up and ran past Natsu. “Those damn critters!”

He grabbed his father’s rifle that hung from the wall and a belt packed with ammunition. This was the second time this week Geckos came close to the settlement. They were harmless when they were alone, but their hunger for flesh drove them to run around in packs and they had no fear of humans.

“Get them, Sho!” Natsu shouted behind him as he ran out the door.

 

Chickens scattered away from him as he jumped over the old farmer’s fence. The old man jumped up from his rocking chair and angrily raised his fist at him. “Damn it, son! Don’t you scare my chickens like that!” he shouted from across the crop field and Hinata yelled an apology back at him, not stopping in his pace.

The water supply was located two minutes away from the settlement, behind small, rocky hills that protected the construction of pipes, barrels and water filters.

Hinata heard the clicking and chirping of the Geckos behind the hills and crouched down, trying to get a better view of the water supply.

He gulped. Those Geckos were a lot bigger than usual, their scales a darker shade of red and their claws a lot longer. They were swarming around the remains of one of the farmer’s goats. It must have escaped from the compound when the old man had been busy with his tobacco or had fallen asleep.

Hinata charged his rifle and glanced through the scope. He would have to recharge quickly, the old rifle only hand two shots per load. He slowly raised the barrel of the rifle and held his breath to secure his aim.

Then he pulled the trigger, two times.

Two Gecko’s dropped dead to the ground, the other three scattered away from one another.

He quickly reloaded the rifle and aimed a second time, but the Geckos ran off into the wasteland, leaving behind their prey. Hinata gritted his teeth, and tried to take down one of them, but he missed. Hopefully those critters wouldn’t come back anytime soon.

Hinata carefully stepped down the slope and went to check if the Geckos had damaged the water supply in any way. But all pipes and barrels were in perfect shape.

He let out a relieved sigh and picked up the bucket Natsu had dropped when she had run off. He knelt and opened the faucet. Fresh, clear water ran into the metal bucket, shimmering in the afternoon sun.

Once the bucket was filled, Hinata opened the screen of one of the barrels to check how much water was still left.

He gasped and dropped the screen onto the barrel. “No way.”

The barrel was nearly empty. Never had the water line been this low before. He checked on the other barrels. There had to be a leak somewhere in the pipes, there was no way that no new water had come from the dam behind the canyon. But there was no issue with any of the pipes either.

“Why is there no new water?” Hinata muttered under his breath. All the years his family had lived here, the supply had always been filled with water from the large river that lay far up to the north. Something must have cut off the conduit. Or someone…

Hinata knew for sure that once the supply would have run out completely, there was still a well left behind the old school house. But it was still strange.

 

On his way back to the settlement, he decided to take a swing to the left, up the silent summit. It was the settlement’s graveyard that stood quiet on top of the highest hills that surrounded the area.

Hinata quietly walked past the graves, a smile appeared on his face as he read the names of his grandparents on two of the wooden crosses. But it quickly faded when he passed one of the newer graves. He knelt down to put one of the desert flowers, which Natsu had brought a while ago, back underneath the cross. For her, their father was just a stranger from a few photographs or their mother’s tales.

For Hinata, he was a faint memory. Nothing but a vague feeling in his chest.

But Hinata remembered his old man had been an adventurer, fearless and bold. He had been exactly who Hinata whished to become.

But leaving the security of the settlement behind was terrifying. He knew nothing about the life out there, the environment, the people… the entire outside world, with all it’s beauty and foulness. It had to be worth being explored, despite all the dangers.

Hinata wanted more than just the wasteland. Somewhere there were woods, lakes, entire oceans waiting to be seen.

“What should I do, dad?” he muttered and brushed the dust from the white wood. The desert wind howled across the plateau and left Hinata with a light feeling in his chest.

The longer he thought things over, the stronger his longing would grow. He rose to his feet and raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sun. From atop the graveyard hills he could gaze farther into the wasteland. He watched the road that crawled across the landscape. There were more settlements farther away of which he had heard. If he started walking, he would get somewhere eventually. Perhaps it did not matter that he had no destination, he could just figure things out along the way.

Hinata gulped and clutched the rifle in his right hand. He would miss Natsu and their mother, and leaving them for a while would be tough. But he had not given up on his dream to show Natsu the places from their grandmother’s stories one day.

“I’ve decided.” He muttered to himself and turned back towards the settlement. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning."

 

* * *

 

At sunrise Hinata had stepped out of the door. His mother had objected at first, but she had soon realized that there was no point in holding him back. Natsu had been bawling her eyes out from the moment he had announced that he would be leaving until their goodbyes this morning.

Even though he had walked for nearly two hours, he still tried to push back the tears he had been holding back since he had hugged Natsu for the last time. He missed her already.

The lump in his throat grew too painful and thick drops began to roll down his cheeks. _Dammit, keep it together_ , he though. But the tears kept falling and did not stop.

Suddenly he heard a gun click behind him.

“Drop your weapon!” an angry voice yelled. “Put your hands up where I can see them!”

Hinata froze and dropped the rifle.

 _Great. Three hours on the road, and I’m already getting robbed,_ he thought.

“Now turn around! But not too fast, or I’ll shoot.” The voice demanded.

Hinata slowly turned around, the tears from earlier still rolling down his cheeks. The voice belonged to a taller boy, who had to be just around his age.

He had black and short cropped hair, with a fringe that hung just above his dark blue eyes. He had an impressively sharp glare, which faded when he looked Hinata in the face.

He seemed puzzled and lowered his gun. “Hey! What the hell are you crying for?” he shouted, his tone more confused than aggressive this time.

Hinata’s lips twitched. He was still completely caught off guard, unable to stop the flow of tears.

Eventually all that escaped his mouth was a stutter.

“Boy… it- it sure is a hot one today, huh?”


	2. Not My Vault

_“Hey, Tobio. Are you not going to say goodbye to your upperclassmen?” A cocky smirk followed. “How rude of you.”_

_“Just get the hell out already, Oikawa.” He had hissed at him._

_Oikawa’s smirk faded slightly. “Fine, I’m not going to make you say anything. You really are a brat, Tobio. But I’m going to miss you regardless. Join us in the capital sometime in the future.”_

_Kageyama gritted his teeth. “You bet I will, someone has to kick you off your high horse.”_

_“See you around, Tobio!” Oikawa grinned at him and waved before he left from the doorstep._

_Kageyama clenched his fists and kept grinding his teeth, as thick tears began to roll down his cheek. “See you, you bastard…”_

 

The small ball bounced off the nightstand and Kageyama snapped out of his thoughts. He grabbed the ball from the floor and flung it towards the wall in anger, but was struck into the jaw when the ball bounced back right into his face.

“Dammit!”

Nearly two years had passed since the day he had last seen Oikawa and the others that had left for the capital. Out there the payment was good, and mercenary work was easy. Which was likely why the administration of the capital only hired the most promising candidates to work and live inside the walls of the safe zone.

Kageyama rubbed his aching jaw and let himself fall onto the mattress. He buried his head in his pillow and groaned.

Apparently, he was not one of the most promising candidates of the wasteland, despite all his hard work. People from the vaults tended to get hired more often than the common wastelander.

But he was simply out of luck it seemed, as they had rejected him.

Among his peers inside vault 281, he was one of the strongest and most agile, cut out perfectly for mercenary work. But now his hopes had been crushed.

The way he was able to handle himself in battle was worthless for a life inside the vault. Which seemed to be all that was left for him now. He had no intention of starting a farm out in the wasteland or joining a gang of raiders.

Kageyama rolled over to his side and looked up to the ceiling. Vault 281 was old, but still offered more comfort than the wasteland outside the underground shelter. But as time had passed, the walls seemed to get closer over time and he was tired of the same procedure each day.

Perhaps if he had friends around here, it would have been bearable. But he was well aware what people thought of him. _Too harsh_ , _rude_ and _scary_ were still some of the lesser insults.

But Kageyama did not think much better of his fellow vault dwellers either. They were dense, feeble from the comfortable life inside the vault. Perhaps he wasn’t meant for it.

A knock at the door.

“Tobio, the overseer wants to speak with all of you young’uns.” The voice belonged to the old lady who ran the cafeteria. Kageyama had never bothered remembering her name. Perhaps he should have, she was one of the few people who did not seem to despise him.

When he stepped down into the main hall, he immediately felt the looks of his classmates on him. But he had gotten used to it and did not pay them any attention. He heard Kindaichi whispering “There comes his majesty.” under his breath and had to suppress a frown. 

Kageyama was well aware they had rubbed each other up the wrong way, but quite honestly, he did not care much for Kindaichi nor anyone else of his peers. But he was annoyed with him more than with anyone else, especially since had been one of the few candidates the administration of the capital had chosen this year.

The vault’s overseer stood on a higher platform and waited for everyone to settle down. He was usually a light-hearted man, but today he seemed more serious.

“If everyone would please be quiet.” He announced and gave them a stern glare. “This does concern every single one of you.”

“Maybe Kageyama killed someone who didn’t obey him.” Someone whispered behind Kageyama’s back and he clenched his fists.

_Imbeciles._

“This morning it has come to my attention, that our water supply has decreased over the last two weeks. Our water chip to clean the ground water is still working, but we are running short on clean water regardless.” The overseer announced and sighed. “It pains me to ask this of you.” He paused again. “But unless we reduce the vaults population, there will not be enough clean water for everyone. That’s why I’m asking a few of you to leave and find a life outside the vault.”

Silence fell upon the hall, and slowly, very slowly Kageyama felt their eyes on him.

He swallowed and stared at the overseer, but more heads kept turning into his direction.

He was not exactly nervous, but he felt his heart pounding and his cheeks growing hot. They really wanted him to leave, to toss him out into the dust and wait for him to disappear into the wasteland.

When had things changed for the worse between him and them? He must have missed it somehow. The tension had been there for a while, but one day everyone had turned their backs on him.

Kageyama clenched his fists and exhaled sharply.

Fine. He didn’t need them anyway.

“I’ll gladly leave this hole.” Kageyama felt as if he was standing beside his body when he spoke. It didn’t feel as if those words belonged to him, as if they were not produced in his own mouth. It felt as if someone else had placed them on his tongue and now they just fell out.

The overseer’s eyes widened and from the corner of his eye Kageyama saw Kindaichi crossing his arms.

“Just let me get my things, and I’ll be gone.” Again, there were those words which left his mouth that did not belong to him.

The overseer cleared his throat. “Well, thank you very much for your cooperation, Tobio. This makes things a lot easier for me.”

Kageyama did not hear the rest of the overseer’s speech. He turned on his heels and headed back to his room. He slammed the door shut and stared to carpet on the floor.

They had all grown up together, had been friends at some point. But if no one wanted him to stay, then he had nothing to hold him back.

 _That bastard Oikawa… I’ll show those capital assholes that I’m better than he could ever be. I’ll show all of them…_ , he thought and grabbed his gun that stood beside the nightstand.

 

* * *

 

 

No one said a word when Kageyama stepped up to the entrance of the vault. He zipped up his leather jacket and swung his gun’s trap over his shoulder.

The giant steel gate was opened, and a warm breeze of air blew into the vault.

Before him lay the wasteland, bright from the sun and dust lingering in the air, with the mountains in the distance and a breathtaking landscape between the entrance of the vault and the horizon.

For a moment Kageyama no longer felt the sting in his chest. There were dangers in every corner, but the outside was beautiful regardless. Perhaps it was a good thing to leave the vault behind.

He could have turned around, to get a last look in all the eyes that were eagerly waiting for him to finally disappear.

But Kageyama did not turn back. He held onto the strap of his gun when he set foot outside the vault.

The sunlight was a lot more pleasant than the cold, synthetic light that shone down from the metal ceiling. The clear, blue sky above him seemed endless and he felt as if he could fall into it any moment. But for the first time he felt free.

With the sun shining on his back, he wandered down the road that cut through the wasteland. It was much hotter than he had expected the desert to be in early October. 

Sometimes Kageyama wondered if there was a region left on the planet where the air wasn’t hot and dry. But his teacher back home in the vault had barely known enough about the wasteland to cover more than two lessons.

He knew there was too much he did not know yet and would have to figure out by himself. 

Kageyama wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. He could partially understand how some people went insane under this weather. The colds he had caught from the vault’s air-conditioning system did not seem too bad now.

Suddenly he heard the steps of someone else near him and he dove behind one of the large rocks that surrounded the area near the road.

In the distance he was able to make out… a child? Or perhaps a very small man. But what mattered most was that the person walking carried a rifle and a belt with ammunition, which made them a threat.

Kageyama gritted his teeth and slowly snuck up to them. Finally, he was close enough and lifted his gun.

“Drop your weapon! And put your hands up where I can see them!” he shouted, his finger placed on the trigger.

The boy froze and dropped the rifle off his shoulder.

“Now turn around! But not too fast, or I’ll shoot.” Kageyama barked and stared at the boy in front of him.

The stranger slowly turned around. Despite his size, he had to be around Kageyama’s age. He had unruly, orange hair and big brown eyes. Tears were flowing down his cheeks.

Kageyama staggered and lowered his gun. Perhaps he had been to harsh, but there was no telling what kind of maniacs were running around out here. He meant to speak in a calming voice, but ended up shouting.

“Hey! What the hell are you crying for?” That came out less soothing than he had intended it to.

The stranger’s lips twitched, as if he was about to speak, the tears still running down his cheeks.

“Boy… it- it sure is a hot one today, huh?” he stuttered.

"What?"

Kageyama nearly dropped his gun. The boy must have suffered a heat stroke.

“Are you feeling alright?”

 

* * *

 

Hinata. Shouyou Hinata. That was the name the boy had introduced himself with.

Kageyama found him rather odd. But he was glad he had been the one to catch him crying and not a gang of raiders.

Hinata had refused to explain why exactly he had been crying, but Kageyama did not really care for it anyway.

_“If you’re also exploring the wasteland, we should travel together until we reach the next town!”_

Kageyama wasn’t too fond of the idea of traveling together with a crybaby who immediately had thrown his rifle away instead of defending himself.

But travelling the wasteland alone seemed much more dangerous. He had no intention of dying alone out here in the open.

And so Kageyama found himself travelling with Hinata right to his left, now no longer crying.

Kageyama pretended to overlook the side-glances that came from Hinata. The latter seemed curious, nearly dying to question Kageyama, but he kept his mouth shut. Which wasn’t the worst.

“Hinata.” Kageyama could no longer stand being observed from the side.

Hinata’s eyes widened and he took a step farther to the left in a defensive matter. “Y-yeah?”

“I wonder…” Kageyama turned his head to meet Hinata’s eyes. “Where do you come from? Why did you leave your home? You don’t strike me as the type to hit the road."

He watched Hinata furrow and pout, which was more adorable than the smaller boy had most likely intended it to be. “You’re one to talk. You don’t seem like the person to leave behind the comfortable life inside the vault either.”

Kageyama frowned. “I never said I was a vault dweller.”

Hinata shrugged. “Well, it’s not as if you can do anything to hide it. Even without your uniform, your pale complexion gives you away. So, tell me, why did you leave?”

Kageyama gritted his teeth, Hinata really was annoying. “I asked you first, but what does it matter, right?” he made an annoyed groan. “I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Besides, I got tired of having to worry about the ceiling dropping on my head one day.”

He glanced over at Hinata again. “What about you? Did living in your settlement become too boring?”

“It’s always been a good place to live. But I wanted to see more of the world.” Hinata replied and smiled.

It was a beautiful smile. Warm like the sun and full of hope. A smile that made Kageyama’s cheeks turn hot.

“You know, I truly want to see the ocean, the coast…” Hinata carried on. “Somewhere to the north there are said to be green woods and meadows. Imagine how beautiful life must be there.”

Kageyama placed a hand on his left cheek to cover up the skin that had turned to a darker shade of pink. As he was sure Hinata didn’t notice, he cleared his throat.

“I don’t believe there is any such a place left in the world. The rest of the planet probably looks exactly like this.” He remarked.

“You vault dwellers don’t know a lot about the outside world then, I guess.” Hinata replied, suddenly he seemed more confident.

“After the week of acid rain, right after the final fire, most people didn’t expect anything else besides a dead wasteland. But I heard about places that look exactly the way they did before the mushroom wars.”

Kageyama hummed lightly. “I heard those tales as well. But I don’t believe they are true.”

“I believe them. My grandmother said she grew up on an island with grass and trees still standing before she and my grandfather came to the wasteland.” Hinata said, his eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

Kageyama nodded. “If that really is the case, then I would like to see that place myself one day.”

Hinata’s eyes widened and he smiled at Kageyama. “We should go together then!”

“Perhaps.” Kageyama scoffed. “If you don’t get yourself killed by then, I’ll go with you.”

Hinata frowned. “And I was just wondering where your attitude went. You better watch out for yourself, vault boy!” he replied and Kageyama gritted his teeth at the smaller boy.

“What are you implying, huh? I might come from a vault, but I could still kick your ass!”

They continued to argue as the sun moved across the horizon. Neither of them noticed the old truck stop by the road, far in the distance.


	3. Sleepy Town Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small town in the southern parts of the wasteland. Tsukishima is bored of his everyday life. Yamaguchi has a very difficult choice to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that I'm done with my finals, I finally have the time to keep writing on this fic, yeay~  
> I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and if you spot any errors, please let me know!

He was fed up.

Tsukishima slammed the book he had been reading onto his nightstand. He stared out into the dusty landscape with a grim look on his face.

The book was a prewar comic book his older brother had once given to him as a birthday present. As a child, Tsukishima had been fascinated by it. But now it all seemed quite stupid to him.

He sighed.

After a while he got up from his chair and went over to the kitchen to get something to eat. Much to his disappointment, all the fancier snacks had already been eaten.

It had been a while since the last trader had found their way into the small town, which was unusual. But Tsukishima didn’t really care anyway.

He was so tired of the life out in the wastes. Nothing ever happened, there was no actual work for him that he would have enjoyed, and the people were boring as well.

Well, maybe not all of them.

When Tsukishima walked out of his family’s cabin, he immediately took notice of Yamaguchi who was walking on the other end of the street.

Yamaguchi was carrying a basket full of corn. It was one of the few edible plants one could grow out in the wasteland.

When the scrawnier boy noticed Tsukishima, he waved at him cheerfully, while nearly dropping the basket.

Tsukishima slowly waved back. “Idiot, be careful.” He muttered. Yamaguchi was too carefree sometimes.

* * *

 

On the other end of the street, Yamaguchi had caught the basket from falling just in time. He sighed.

His mother had asked him to bring the corn to the local trader, to get some bottlecaps or different kinds of food in return. Although Yamaguchi doubted new supplies had arrived. Not a single trading caravan had come to their town within the past three weeks.

He noticed Tsukishima pointing at the old church tower and he gave him a nod.

_“Right…”_

Tsukishima had asked him to meet with him some time this afternoon.

Tsukki had been awfully quiet after the capital administration had rejected his application.

Yamaguchi felt bad for his friend, but secretly he had been relieved when he had heard the news. It had not been much of a surprise either, it was no secret that the people of the capital didn’t care about what happened in the other parts of the wasteland.

Tsukki was better off not going. But what if he really left one day?

Yamaguchi nearly tripped over one of the settlement’s cats that ran across the street.

“Hey, watch where you’re going.” He felt stupid for yelling at a cat, but he was certain the little critter understood him perfectly.

He shook his head. He could understand that Tsukki had higher aspirations than spending all his life in their settlement. But life wasn’t bad here.

No raiders came this far south. The ruins of the big prewar cities, which surrounded the capital up north, were much more inviting than the small settlements out in the plains.

Sometimes it got lonely out here, but the people of their town stuck together and looked out for one another.

Only that Tsukki did not seem to care the least for it.

No one in their settlement minded his attitude though, Tsukki had been this way most of his life.

Although Yamaguchi remembered a time when Tsukki had cared more… for everything.

 

* * *

 

That same afternoon Yamaguchi hurried into the shade of the old church tower. He was used to the heat, but he had been working out in the sun all day.

Tsukki was leaning against the wooden walls of the tower and adjusted his glasses. He seemed annoyed, but over the time Yamaguchi had found out it was simply his face.

Yamaguchi gave him a warm smile. “I’m sorry for taking so long.” He immediately noticed the cold expression the other carried was not just his usual demeanor.

“It doesn’t matter, I’ll make this short anyway.” Tsukki replied and walked towards him.

“Sure. What’s on your mind?” Yamaguchi said and lifted his head to meet Tsukki’s eyes. He really just kept growing taller.

“I’m leaving.” Tsukki said dryly and stared back down at Yamaguchi.

“What?”

Yamaguchi’s eyes widened and his smile wavered.

“I’m going to leave the settlement by tomorrow morning.” Tsukki said. There was no way he was joking.

“I’m going to head up north, I can’t stand it here one more day. I won’t mind if you decide to come along. But I won’t wait if it takes you too long to decide.” He remarked and walked past Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi stared at the ground where the other had been standing just a moment ago.

“You’re  _what_?” he finally managed to speak again and flung around.

But Tsukki had already left.

 

* * *

 

They had grown up together. There had not been a single time they had been apart from each other.

Yamaguchi let himself fall onto his bed. He still felt the stinging pain inside his chest and buried his head in his pillow. It was a simple straw pillow and not exactly the most comfortable.

But so was life in the settlement and he still liked it. Although he was not so sure how much he would still like it, if Tsukki was not around.

His vision became blurry, and thick, hot tears ran down his cheeks. Just the thought of heading out into the wasteland was terrifying.

Death was just around every corner. Infected wounds, disease that spread quickly, bloodthirsty raiders, slave traders, the beasts of the desert…

Yamaguchi had never been that good at handling guns, let alone fighting. He had no intention of getting into any fights soon either. But that was exactly what came along with traveling the wasteland.

Yamaguchi turned his head to face the wall. He feared the world waiting out there.

But he could not imagine a life without Tsukki.

He had always thought of his future with Tsukki by his side. It had never occurred to him that things could change one day.

His head hurt from crying. He wiped the tears from his cheeks and closed his eyes.

_“I don’t want to be alone…”_

 

* * *

 

Tsukishima glanced over to his nightstand, where he had placed his brother’s old comic book earlier. He wondered whether he should leave it behind or not.

It was still the same stupid comic book, and he would most likely not read it anytime soon. But there was no telling when he would come back home, and he felt better about it once he had put it into his bag.

Things were still quiet over at Yamaguchi’s house. Tsukishima had seen him enter earlier, but he could not see Yamaguchi move around his room as usual. Sometimes he would even wave at him from the window, as his family’s house was right across Tsukishima’s.

Had he been too harsh to Yamaguchi?

Tsukishima sighed and cleaned his glasses. He could have told Yamaguchi earlier of course. But he had chosen not to. He wasn’t fully sure why he had kept quiet about it for so long.

Tsukishima stopped and checked if he had missed any spots on the glasses.

But what if Yamaguchi decided to not come with him? It had never even been an option to Tsukishima. But Yamaguchi would not stay, he was always following Tsukishima around. He definitely would come with him…or would he?

Tsukishima frowned and put on his glasses again.

“If he’s too scared to leave the settlement, then he should stay here anyway.” He muttered and began to search for a package of ammunition.

 

* * *

 

It had not dawned yet, as Tsukishima was waiting by the large boulder right outside the settlement. He had been grinding his teeth so much all morning, his jaw began to hurt.

But there was no sight of Yamaguchi yet.

Maybe he had been wrong after all and Yamaguchi really would not come…

Tsukishima crossed his arms and leaned against the boulder.

He watched the orange colored sky above the mountains to the east, where the sun was rising slowly.

Finally, he turned on his heels and grit his teeth. There was no point in waiting any longer, he would have to set out alone.

“Fine by me…” he muttered and slowly left the settlement behind him. He could travel the wasteland just as well all by himself.

“Tsukki!”

Tsukishima stopped and turned back to the settlement.

He was surprised when he spotted Yamaguchi running down the road, heading towards him.

“Wait for me, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi shouted, his cheeks red from running all the way.

When he reached Tsukishima, he gasped for air. “I’m sorry.”

Tsukishima’s chest felt much lighter all of a sudden and he felt like smiling. But instead he just raised an eyebrow at Yamaguchi. “Why are you apologizing?”

“No, I meant…” Yamaguchi took another deep breath. He really must have sprinted all the way here. “I’m sorry for taking so long. I almost overslept.” He said and laughed sheepishly.

“Well, as long as you didn’t forget anything.” Tsukishima replied dryly and turned around.

“Let’s not waste any more time.”

Yamaguchi’s eyes glistened in the sunlight and he grinned. “Alright, Tsukki!"

 

* * *

 

After wandering the lonely road all day, they decided to take a break behind a wall of tall boulders.

The night was much colder than the day and now Tsukishima almost regretted giving Yamaguchi the additional blanket earlier.

Tsukishima rubbed his arms and stared into the small campfire.

Usually he would have decided to not light any fires out here, but there were no raiders or any of the more dangerous wasteland creatures in these parts.

Akiteru had once told him of another settlement farther to the South, which had been swallowed by a sandstorm. These days there was nothing but the desert in that direction.

Tsukishima frowned. He was still frustrated that he had not been accepted into the capital, but coming from basically Hicksville, it had been no surprise the administration hadn’t come to a different decision. Besides, there was no point in trying any harder when nothing would come of it. He would never get into the capital. Maybe it was better this way, travelling the wasteland seemed much more exciting anyway.

He glanced over to Yamaguchi who had not moved in a while since they had said their goodnights.

Yamaguchi had offered to take the first nightshift earlier, but after wandering all day, he had barely been able to keep his eyes open in the end.

“Yamaguchi…” Tsukishima said quietly, trying to see if he had already fallen asleep.

Yamaguchi mumbled something under his breath and sighed. Then there were only even breaths.

Tsukishima leaned over to get a better look at the other.

Yamaguchi was sleeping peacefully, wrapped into the warm blankets. He had his mouth opened and a few strands of brown hair had fallen into his face.

Tsukishima carefully pushed the hair out of his face, while trying not to wake him. Yamaguchi sighed again and snuggled down in the blankets.

A faint smile appeared on Tsukishima’s lips and he looked up into the starlit sky.

“Thank you for coming with me, Tadashi…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That concludes the 1st Years' backstories and the story will actually begin with the next chapter!  
> I'm kind of excited to finally get into the main story and truly introduce the setting of this AU~
> 
> If you enjoyed this chapter (or this fic in general so far), please leave kudos or even a comment if you like ♡


	4. The Crows Pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally another update! Writing the drafts comes so naturally to me, but then the actual chapters take nearly forever.
> 
> If you've come this far, I hope you enjoyed the earlier chapters! (And hopefully will enjoy this & future chapters as well~)

“Hinata, you dumbass!”

Hinata tried to pay no attention to Kageyama, who kept shouting insults at him, but he was too loud to ignore. He was seriously mad this time, even though Hinata still thought he was overreacting.

“What are you still going on about this, I already apologized. If you keep shouting, you’re just going to wear yourself out!” Hinata yelled back at him after a while.

Kageyama staggered for a second, he clearly had not expected that kind of response. But he quickly went right back into shouting-mode and grabbed Hinata by his collar. “Listen up, desert trash. You, out of all people, should know how serious it is to run out of water. How can you be so calm when we might end up dying?”

“There is a settlement somewhere down the road, calm down.” Hinata replied and tried to free himself from the taller one’s clutches.

Although he wasn’t too sure how far away the next settlement really was. However, it should not take them more than a day to get there, which they could totally survive without a drop of water. Unless Kageyama continued to yell at him until he passed out from dehydration.

Kageyama exhaled sharply and let go of Hinata’s shirt. “You better be right.” He muttered and pushed Hinata away from him.

Hinata grit his teeth, ready to kick the taller one from behind, but he changed his mind before it was too late. He didn’t have a death wish. There was no doubt Kageyama could beat him into a pulp with ease.

They had been walking for another two hours, when they were able to make out a truck stop at the end of the road.

“See, I told you the next settlement was close by!”

Kageyama murmured something under his breath. “I only see one truck stop, not a whole settlement.”

Hinata sighed. “It’s obviously close by. You should be grateful to wander with someone who actually knows the area.”

“Too bad that certain someone is a dumbass.” Kageyama replied dryly.

“You’re not too bright yourself, vault boy.” Hinata said and frowned. But he took a few steps to the side as precaution. He had no intention of getting beat up, the thirst and the heat were awful enough already. But Kageyama didn’t even react, as he was rather worn out himself already.

Much to their surprise, there were already other people in front of the truck stop.

Five young men, who had to be slightly older than both Hinata and Kageyama, and an even older guy in his late 20s, with dyed hair, who stood by the truck stop’s doorstep.

“I’m sorry, but there are no more supplies, not even for the people from the settlement…” one of the four men said. He was dressed in dusty road leathers and had a larger build than the others.

The other man next to him was slender with light grey hair, wearing a flannel shirt and jeans. He stood close to the one dressed in road leathers, nodding in agreement. “Believe me, if we had anything, we would love to trade with you. But all the stocks are empty.”

The third guy had a shaved head and sharp eyes, and just like the first guy, he was dressed in leather. He had his arms crossed and stared at the other two guys with a grim look.

One of the two was rather young looking, despite his height. Then there was the blond guy with glasses. Hinata immediately didn’t like the air he had around him. He seemed arrogant and cold.

The older man who stood in the door frame nodded in and threw his cigarette bud to the ground. “That would be correct. Now get a move on, I can’t stand it when noisy people like your kind are hanging around my shop.” He said and slammed the door shut into everyone’s faces.

The delinquent-looking guy grunted, “Yo, is that how you talk to your customers, Mr. Ukai?”

“I said scram!” Ukai, the owner of the truck stop shouted from inside the building.

“Tanaka, don’t make it worse.” The grey haired one hushed and gave Tanaka a soft punch to the shoulder.

“Sorry, Sugawara… His attitude is just starting to annoy me, that’s all. As if our lives are so much easier.” Tanaka muttered and gritted his teeth.

The blond guy with glasses frowned. “If there are no supplies, then we’re going to head farther up north.”

“I really wouldn’t recommend that.” Sugawara said. “Unless you have a death wish. There is a group of raiders blocking the main road. They’re still there, right, Daichi?”

Daichi, the first man who was dressed in road leathers, nodded. “Oh, definitely. I doubt they are going to leave anytime soon. Most traders take that road to get to the southern settlements, it’s the perfect place to rob them.”

“It’s also the perfect place to kill them and then roast their limbs and whatnot.” Tanaka added and earned another punch from Sugawara.

“Tanaka!”

“What are you hitting me for? I’m right.” Tanaka shouted and rubbed his upper arm.

“Even if it’s true, don’t scare the kids.” Sugawara scolded him and sighed.

The freckled boy hesitantly raised his hand. He had been quiet the whole time, only occasionally glancing over to the blond one.  “Actually, we’re both 16.”

The blond guy sighed. “Shut up, Yamaguchi.”

“Sorry, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi replied with a smile.

Hinata couldn’t understand for what possible reason anyone would smile after being told to shut up so rudely. Maybe the freckled guy had gotten used to it already, both seemed to know each other for some time. They definitely were better travel partners than him and Kageyama had turned out to be.

“Sorry if that came off as patronizing, I was just hoping to spare you all the gruesome details.” Sugawara said and smiled at both taller boys. “I guess there is no age at which you’ll be completely prepared for all the horrors of the wastes.”

Tsukishima shrugged. “It’s no big deal, I’ve seen raiders before.”

Yamaguchi’s eyes widened. “You have? That’s so cool, Tsukki! How come you never told me?” he asked, but before he could continue Tsukishima shushed him.

“Calm down, I’ve only seen them from a safe distance once. A gang was passing by far away from our place. It’s not like I ran down the hill to fight them.” He muttered and frowned.

As Yamaguchi continued to ask Tsukishima about the raiders, Sugawara turned to Hinata and Kageyama who had been watching the whole scene for a while now.

“Were you two also looking to stock up on supplies?” he asked.

Hinata froze for a moment at Sugawara’s kind smile, then he stuttered “We were. I guess now we’re not…” He noticed Kageyama mouthing ‘ _dumbass_ ’ at him and frowned, but chose to ignore him this time. “Why has no one done something about those raiders?”

Tanaka sighed and raised his head in a dramatic fashion to look up to the clear blue sky. “We would have tried a long time ago, but we’re currently missing some of our best guns… Besides, no one else from our town has agreed to come with us. Can’t take down raiders with just six people.”

He continued to explain how they had asked nearly everyone owning some kind of weapon, but all had turned them down, fearing for their lives. Hinata only heard half of his speech. He was feeling drowsy.

His mouth was uncomfortably dry, his legs were growing weaker and he was overcome with a feeling of dizziness. The sunlight grew brighter, almost blinding him. Then everything went dark.

 

* * *

 

Tanaka’s laughter roared through the saloon as he ruffled through Hinata’s hair. “There, you’re looking much healthier already! If you guys only wanted something to drink, you should have said so from the beginning.”

Hinata eagerly chugged down another Nuka Cola. He tried to thank Tanaka, but only managed to make a gurgling noise, as he was still drinking.

“No one can understand you, dumbass.” Kageyama muttered. He had been awfully quiet – no, even nice, right after Hinata had woken up in the back of the saloon. But now that Hinata was feeling better, he had gone right back to normal.

Saeko, who came with another tray of drinks, gave Tanaka a knock on his head. “If you keep throwing around free drinks, I’ll put all of them on your tab. We’re not running a charity here.”

While Tanaka complained about his sister’s injustice, Saeko’s eyes wandered over to Hinata and she gave him a pleased smile. “But I’m glad you’re feeling better, kid.”

Tanaka sighed and leaned back on the bench, while crossing his arms. “Fine. I’ll pay for them, alright...”

“Sorry, Tanaka… I’ll repay you for your kindness!” Hinata said with a grin. “Thanksyou’re your help, you’re amazing.”

Tanaka laughed with blushed cheeks. “I sure am! But take your time repaying me. I’m not letting you off without eating something as well.”

Kageyama had quietly been watching them for a while. He glanced at Hinata and frowned. When Hinata had passed out earlier today, for a moment he had actually been worried.

Sure, Hinata was a dumbass, but Kageyama had gotten used to him during their journey and the thought of them separating again had not even occurred to him until today.

He stared at Hinata and huffed. “Hey, idiot! Maybe next time give being less careless a try.”

Hinata loudly slapped his hands on the table and got up from his seat. “Well, maybe next time you think of bringing more water and it’ll last longer than two days!”

On the table next to them, Yamaguchi quietly drank his cola and watched the two at the other table quarrel. He could not make any sense of how these two had ended up travelling together. And yet, they seemed to belong together somehow…

Suddenly he noticed Sugawara’s eyes on him. The older one was watching him with a smile.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, what brings you to these parts?” Sugawara asked and leaned his elbow against the table.

Tsukishima began “None of your business-“, but was cut off by Yamaguchi who cheerfully blurted out, “Oh, we’re kind of just travelling.”

“My god, Yamaguchi… You have to stop just revealing everything to strangers.” Tsukishima sighed and leaned back in his chair, while staring down the freckled boy.

Yamaguchi rubbed the back of his neck and gave Tsukishima a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Tsukki.”

“No, I should be the one to apologize. I didn’t mean to be nosy.” Sugawara apologized. He glanced over to Tsukishima. “You’re right, it’s better to not be too trusting. Although we really mean no harm.” He added, smiling brightly at the blond.

“I’m not so sure if I actually believe that…” Tsukishima muttered under his breath and took another sip from his water.

Yamaguchi had started playing around with the straw in his cola, but after a while he finally broke the silence between them again. “What’s your getup? Earlier you said you were missing some of your guns. Are you some kind of gang?” he asked.

He had not noticed how quiet it had gotten on the tables around them and his question come out loud enough for everyone to hear it. His cheeks turned hot, and he quickly stared down onto the table, wishing everyone would just turn their attention to something else.

Tsukishima nodded at an old banner that hung from the wall in a corner. “The Crows?”, he asked after reading the embroidering.

Sugawara’s smile wavered, and he glanced over to Daichi, who sat right next to him.

Daichi had not said much after they had taken Hinata to the saloon. He sighed and glanced up to one of the ceiling fans that was no longer rotating. “The Crows…” he muttered under his breath. “Well, that would be us- “, he said after a pause. “The Crows are- no, _were_ a group of mercenaries. None of the original members are around anymore and we’re currently short on members.”

Daichi had a grim look as he continued, “Things haven’t been working out in a long time. There were previous gangs called the Crows, but they all disbanded after each of them were struck by an ill fate.”

Tanaka leaned over to Hinata and whispered, “You know, nearly all original members of the gang prior to us died during their last mission. Only three of them are alive to this day.”

Hinata’s eyes widened in horror. “What went wrong?” he asked quietly.

“Remember the grumpy guy from the truck stop?” Tanaka asked and Hinata nodded.

Tanaka carried on, “He’s one of the original members who survived. But he never really told anyone how exactly the mission went wrong. It must have hit him hard though, he won’t let us use their old base, which happens to be the truck stop, or any of the Crows’ armor and weapons that are still in there.”

He sighed, but his face lit up a little. “Anyway, three years ago, Daichi and the rest of us decided to reform the Crows. Things have been alright so far, but we’re short on weapons and work. You can’t really call yourself mercenaries when there are no jobs to take on…”

Daichi cleared his throat and gave Tanaka a stern look. “I would prefer it if you wouldn’t always advertise us like that.” He said.

Sugawara gave Daichi a faint smile. “He’s not wrong though.”

“No, he’s not.” Daichi muttered and ran his fingers through his hair. “We once got an old radio station working, that we used for communication with other settlements to see if there were any jobs. But the transmitter broke and recovering a brand-new transmitter out here in the desert is close to impossible. Although taking care of the raiders is more important right now. If we leave them be, the settlements of the south will all run out of supplies sooner or later.”

Sugawara crossed his arms and nodded in agreement. “Don’t forget our water supply has been running dangerously low lately. If it weren’t for Saeko’s saloon and the well, we would be in serious trouble.”

Hinata’s eyes lit up. “Are you serious? In my family’s settlement the water supply has been running low as well!”

“I think I heard my mother mention something like that as well some days before we left.” Yamaguchi added.

Kageyama chewed on his straw and quietly watched the others’ conversation. He wondered if any of this had something to do with the vaults water system. It seemed unlikely to him that all prewar conduit pipes were joint together somewhere, but then again what did he know about line construction?

Daichi sighed. He began massaging his temples. “It definitely is a problem we’ll have to look into, but there are more pressing matters at hand. Unless we get rid of those raiders, we won’t get anything else done.”

Suddenly he stopped, looked up from the table and gave Hinata, Kageyama, as well as Yamaguchi and Tsukishima a smile. It was not the welcoming smile from earlier. He had something on his mind.

“I’m sorry for being so straightforward, but I would like to ask you for your help.”

Tsukishima gritted his teeth. There was no way he would risk his life for strangers, no matter how welcoming they seemed.

Kageyama didn’t seem too thrilled as well, but Hinata already blurted out “Of course we’ll help!”

Yamaguchi nodded. “Absolutely! Besides, I can’t think of another way to repay you for being so welcoming.” He said and smiled at Tsukishima, who shot a grim glare back at him, but this time he was ignored completely.

Kageyama huffed and punched Hinata’s shoulder. “I can speak for myself, dumbass! Don’t just drag me into things.”

Hinata rubbed his aching shoulder. “Oh, so you wouldn’t have agreed to help them after they saved us from almost dying?”

“I wasn’t the one who passed out because he didn’t bring enough water.” Kageyama replied and seemed prepared to jump across the table at Hinata’s throat.

“You didn’t answer my question, vault boy.” Hinata muttered but flinched when the other’s expression darkened. “Hey, I hope you’re not thinking about starting a fight in our hosts’ place just like that.”

Tanaka laughed and gave Hinata another slap on his already aching shoulder. “I like that enthusiasm of yours, Hinata.”

A pleased smile appeared on Daichi’s face and he hummed lightly. “Then it’s decided.” He got up from his chair. “We’ll meet at the old motel tomorrow morning.”

“We don’t have any spare beds, and the ones in the truck stop are off limits obviously. But if the four of you don’t mind, you can sleep in the barn. Sleeping on hay might be more comfortable than sleeping on the ground.” Sugawara said and smiled. “I’ll show you to the barn once you’ve had something for dinner.”

 

* * *

 

The hay really wasn’t that uncomfortable, but Hinata was grateful Sugawara had brought them some pillows and blankets.

He was tightly nestled into a huge, fuzzy blanket, and although it was cozy, he couldn’t fall asleep. “Hey, vault boy. Are you awake?” Hinata whispered and glanced over to Kageyama.

Kageyama, who was lying next to him, with some distance left between them, let out an annoyed groan. “Dumbass. How do you expect me to sleep when you keep rustling around every other minute? Just lie quietly like a normal person.”

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were lying on the other side of the barn. Yamaguchi wouldn’t have minded getting to know both Hinata and Kageyama a little better, but Tsukishima wasn’t too fond of either of the two of them.

The blond was lying a little closer to him, since Yamaguchi would probably move closer to him in his sleep with the course of the night anyway. Besides, he didn’t mind something warm next to him in the cold of the night.

On the other side of the barn both Hinata and Kageyama were quarreling again, and Tsukishima groaned. “If these two idiots don’t shut up, I’ll stuff their mouths.” He muttered angrily.

Right next to him Yamaguchi laughed quietly. Even with hay in their mouths, they would probably find a way to keep arguing.

After things had gotten quiet again, Yamaguchi looked over to Tsukishima, who appeared to be sleeping already.

“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi whispered.

He flinched when Tsukki unexpectedly rolled over and looked him right in the eyes. “What?”

“I…” Yamaguchi felt his cheeks turning hot and he looked down onto the hay. “I’m sorry for just agreeing to help these guys. I didn’t even realize I went over your head there… I’m really sorry, Tsukki.”

Tsukishima sighed. “What does it matter? It’s not that big of a deal.” He replied and turned back around. “I guess it’s for the best, I wasn’t planning on taking on those raiders by myself anyway.” He quietly added.

Yamaguchi rolled over as well, facing the other side of the barn, from where he heard Hinata and Kageyama still arguing. Although this time they were doing it at a much more tolerable volume.

 _“Why are they sleeping next to each other if they can’t stand one another?”_ , he thought to himself, but perhaps not even those two knew why.

He decided to let the thought pass and closed his eyes.

It was then when he realized he had no idea how he was going to defend himself against those raiders and his eyes sprung open again.

_“Wait, what did I get myself into?!”_


	5. The Crows Pt. 2

Hinata felt a bright warmth on his face as he walked out of his family’s cabin. He waved to Natsu, who sat inside at the window, smiling at him as she waved back. It was rather quiet outside, he couldn’t even hear the wind softly blowing through the dust.

It was then that he felt something butt into his back. He turned around to find the old farmer’s goat standing before him. He had forgotten her name, even though he had visited the farm shortly after she had been born. “Did you get lost?” he mumbled and bend down to pet her.

The goat began licking his arm and walked closer towards him. Hinata laughed and hugged her.

But there was something strange. Her fur didn’t carry the typical goat scent and felt more like sweaty fabric. Goats also weren’t supposed to be this muscular, were they?

Shortly after, he was awoken by a loud “Hinata, you dumbass!” and a thud on his head.

Hinata’s eyes shot wide open and he nearly choked on his own saliva. “What’s going on?” he stuttered in-between coughs. But instead of receiving a response, he was pushed away by two strong arms.

“I should be the one asking that, idiot!” Kageyama barked back at him, his cheeks tinted pink.

Just now Hinata realized he must have hugged the taller one from behind. He sighed with disappointment, he truly would have preferred the cute goat.

Kageyama shot a deadly glare at Hinata and was about to yell at him again, but before he could continue, Hinata cut him off.

“Why do you have to be so aggressive all the time? It was a honest mistake, I would never even consider hugging you. For a moment I just mistook you for a goat there, no need to get so upset.”

Kageyama shot up from the hay and grabbed Hinata by his collar. “Are you calling me a goat now?” he yelled into the other’s face, clearly offended.

“That’s not what I meant…” Hinata stuttered, trying to free himself from Kageyama’s grasp.

“Can you two shut up?” Tsukishima shouted from across the barn. He tried to reach for his glasses, but it took him a while to find them in the hay. “Dammit.” He muttered with a frown. This morning was already off to a horrible start. He glanced back over to Kageyama and Hinata who were already in a completely different argument.

Tsukishima sighed and let himself fall back down onto the hay for a while.

The sun was just about to rise, tinting the sky in a bright orange color. The dim morning light fell through the window above his head down onto Yamaguchi, illuminating his bronze skin.

The freckled boy yawned and stretched, before returning to a more relaxed position. Somehow those two dumbasses on the other side of the barn hadn’t been able to wake him up completely.

“Tsukki…” he mumbled, before rolling over to face his friend. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, then suddenly a bright smile appeared on his face. “I like what you did with your hair.” He said and laughed.

“What do you-“Tsukishima began, but stopped when Yamaguchi reached for his head and brushed through it with his fingers. A shiver ran down Tsukishima’s spine, but the other’s fingers going through his own hair felt kind of nice.

“That’s a lot of straw for someone with such short hair.” Yamaguchi mumbled before suddenly he drew back his arm. “Ah! I probably look much worse.” He said and covered his hair with his hands, feeling through the strands for any straw.

Tsukishima pulled the single visible straw from his friend’s soft hair. “No, I think I won that round.”

“Thank you, Tsukki.”

 

* * *

 

When Hinata shuffled outside to wash up, he was already in a foul mood. There were certainly better ways to start the day, than by getting yelled at.

He flung around when he heard someone call out his name.

“Yo, little guy! Hinata!”

Not too far away from the barn, Tanaka was approaching, waving at Hinata.

“Good morning, Tanaka!” Hinata greeted him, once he was only a few feet away.

“Did you like your first night sleeping in the hay?” Tanaka asked cheerfully. He hadn’t come off like a morning person when they had first met, but he didn’t seem tired one bit.

Hinata scratched his shoulder. “I kind of prefer waking up without straws sticking to me.” He replied and smiled. “But I’ve always loved the smell of fresh hay.“

Tanaka laughed and slapped Hinata’s shoulder. “Spoken like a true wastelander.” His eyes wandered over to Kageyama, who stepped outside as well while desperately trying to get the hay out of his clothes. “I guess not everyone knows the charm of growing up on a farm. Oh well.”

He waited until Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had made it out of the barn as well, before he continued, “Daichi asked me to announce a few things in his name since he’s occupied with other things right now. Once all of you are ready to face the day, head to the old motel grounds. We will be meeting in room 4.”

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. “Why is your base in a motel room?” he asked.

Tanaka huffed and crossed his arms, stepping up to the blond and exhaling sharply, only a few inches away from the other’s face. “Yo, weren’t you listening to me last night? I already told you why the actual base is unavailable.”

“To be honest, I didn’t think anything you said last night would be important.” Tsukishima replied dryly.

“Why, you little shit-“ Tanaka growled, and at this point Hinata expected him to jump at the blond’s throat.

But Sugawara, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, placed a hand on Tanaka’s shoulder. “Now, now. Isn’t it a little too early to start a fight?” he asked with a smile and dragged Tanaka away from Tsukishima. “At least we should have breakfast first.”

Kageyama’s expression changed from tired to wide awake within seconds. “Wait, what?”

Hinata’s eyes glistened in the sun as he turned to Sugawara in delight. “We’re going to have breakfast?” he asked, barely able to contain his excitement.

“Is this really fine? You already gave us a lot of your supplies yesterday, won’t they run out faster?” Yamaguchi asked quietly.

Sugawara laughed and waved with his hand. “It’s fine. We can hardly expect you guys to help us on an empty stomach. Besides, if everything goes well, we won’t have to worry about running out of supplies anytime soon.” He replied and gave them a smile. “Now let’s get cooking!”

Hinata ran off to fetch some eggs, while Sugawara prepared a large pot with water and seasonings.

Yamaguchi had jumped right into helping prepare the meat, while Tsukishima quietly skinned some vegetables. He wasn’t the greatest cook himself and felt a little out of place.

Kageyama gulped at the sight of the meat, something about it didn’t seem right to him. Having grown up with the preserved, canned food of the vault, he had never tried any kind of food from outside world.

“What kind of meat are you preparing?” he asked, not taking his eyes of the chopping knife for a second.

 Sugawara looked up from the pot. “Oh, it’s just a simple vegetable soup with iguana bits.”

A shiver ran down Kageyama’s spine. “Can you…” he stuttered, “Can you actually eat reptiles? Does iguana even taste good?” He absolutely couldn’t find anything appealing about it. Although, he had no intention to starve. If eating that dead lizard was his only option, he would have to do exactly that.

“It certainly tastes better than meat from any insectoids.” Yamaguchi said and took a pause from cutting.

Kageyama’s face had turned pale and he had to sit down. “In-... Insects. You guys have eaten insects…”

Sugawara hummed lightly. “I completely forgot you were a vault dweller. It’s probably going to take you a while to adjust to the food out here. If you can’t keep this down, I’ll try to get you something canned.” He offered and Kageyama nodded slowly.

Yamaguchi noticed the smug grin that had appeared on Tsukki’s lips.

“Hey, vault boy…” the blond turned around to Kageyama with a superficial smile. “You really have to try mutt chops once you get the chance. Those are a delicacy around these parts.”

Sugawara sighed. “Those are actually really tasty. But fighting a pack of irradiated wild mongrel dogs is too much work, and most packs roam farther up north. I can’t remember the last time we had those for dinner...” he said woefully and stirred around the soup.

Kageyama stared at them in horror. Just the thought of it was enough to make him feel lightheaded.

Tsukishima grinned and went back to cutting vegetables, while Yamaguchi tried to suppress his laughter.

“Tsukki, you’re awful.” He said quietly and tried to mask his chuckle as a cough.

“I was just trying to introduce him to wasteland culture.” Tsukishima replied with a content smile. Picking on Kageyama was just too easy and fun to pass up.

After Hinata had returned with the ingredients and Tanaka joined them again, they finished preparing the dish.

Hinata had tears in his eyes, a home cooked meal was something he really had missed while he had been on the road.

Kageyama quietly dropped the meat chops from his bowl into Hinata’s. He had no intention of trying lizard anytime soon, not unless it was somehow inevitable.

Sugawara took off earlier, as he had something else to do until their meeting.

Tanaka had finished his meal already but stayed with them. “It’s faster if I walk you guys to the motel grounds, wouldn’t want you to get lost.”

On their way to the motel, which was farther outside of the settlement, Hinata quietly asked Tanaka “Are there any current members of your gang we haven’t met yet?”

“No, you’ve pretty much met everyone. Although there are still Narita and Kinoshita. But those guys aren’t the type to act directly on the front lines. They’re our field scouts and occasionally the emergency backup.” Tanaka explained.

Then his eyes lit up and he let out a dreamy sight. “How could I forget, the wasteland’s most beautiful desert flower – our lovely Kiyoko.” He said and opened the door to the motel room. “I have never seen her use a gun, but she’s the greatest survivalist and doctor one could ask for.”

Behind them someone cleared their throat and a gentle voice said “You better take it slow, Tanaka. Getting so worked up in the heat of the day is bad for your health.”

Tanaka swung around. “Ah, Kiyoko! I didn’t notice you were walking so close behind us.” He replied with a stutter, his cheeks tinted red.

 “I figured as much.” She said and turned her head to Hinata.

Silky strands of pitch black hair fell over her shoulder and her blue eyes glistened in the light that fell through the room’s entrance. She wore jeans with a plain flannel shirt and leather boots. Despite the simplicity of her style, she had to be the most beautiful girl Hinata had ever seen. Although he had not seen too many girls around his age altogether.

Hinata felt his cheeks turn hot and all that escaped his mouth was a stuttered “Nice to meet you, Miss Kiyoko!”

Kiyoko nodded at him “Nice to meet you as well.”, before she greeted the other three.

Kageyama watched Hinata closely. Somehow Kiyoko’s presence had turned him into an even bigger dumbass than he already was. He could have pointed it out to him, but Kageyama decided to stay quiet this time.

Sugawara came walking around the corner. “Are you guys coming? Everyone is already waiting… although I guess we could hold the meeting here in the hallway just as well.” He added with a grin.

Everyone joined up in what had once been a rather fancy motel room, although there was no longer a bed inside. It was chilly compared to the temperature outside, and rather dark since the curtains were drawn closed. A few chairs were standing against the wall, as well as a large table in the middle of the room with various weapons and ammunition on top of it.

Daichi walked up the table and looked around, making sure everyone was there. “Thank you for coming.” He said and looked over to Hinata and the other outsiders. “I hope you got enough sleep last night. It wasn’t too uncomfortable, was it?”

Hinata shook his head, since none of the other three replied.

“Good, good…” Daichi muttered and his entire demeanor changed. With a stern expression he announced, “Thanks to these guys here joining us momentarily, we’re finally going to take on those raiders.”

Kiyoko placed her fingers on her lower lip, seemingly surprised. “So that’s why you took them in.” She said quietly, and Sugawara laughed awkwardly. “Well, that’s the other reason aside from just hospitality.”

Two older looking guys, those were probably Narita and Kinoshita, seemed just as surprised as Kiyoko.

“Either way, it’s about time we did something about them!” Kinoshita said.

Daichi nodded in agreement. “That’s what I thought. Now, while raiders may be stupid, we can’t just run right into a fight with them.”

Tsukishima let out a relieved sigh. “So you do have a plan. I already thought we were going to regret getting involved in this.”

Daichi laughed, “We may not be perfectly organized right now, but we’re not going to act without any kind of strategy. That’s why I already came up with a plan.” He said and turned his head to Sugawara.

“Suga, you’re going to team up with Hinata, Kageyama and Tanaka. I need you guys to head to the hills to the west, the others and I will head up the slopes on the other side. From there, we’re going to open a crossfire, destroying any turrets and taking out as many raiders as possible. Then we’ll pretend to draw back.” Daichi explained, his serious expression unwavering.

He glanced over to both Narita and Kinoshita. “You two are going to lay out mines further down the road and hide them under dust and rubble, while we’re launching the first attack. The raiders are definitely going to come after us, but this way they’ll run right into a minefield.” He said and after short pause continued, “We’re going to use that road block to our advantage. There is the possibility that not all of the raiders are going to run straight into the mines, so I need you- “ his eyes wandered over to Tanaka, whose eyes lit up in delight, “- to sneak around them and wait at the roadblock with a missile launcher.”

Tanaka slammed his hands onto the table. “Hell yeah!”

Hinata looked at Daichi in awe. He would never have been able to come up with such a strategy, although somehow it still didn’t sit right with him. “Do we really want to kill all the raiders? Won’t scaring them away just be enough?”

Daichi had a grim look on his face when he replied, “If we don’t kill them, they’ll kill everyone in this settlement at some point. And those who die right away could still consider themselves lucky.”

Hinata gulped. “What do you mean by that?”

Tanaka crossed his arms. “You might not have heard of it, but a lot of raiders love to torture their victims to death. Skin them alive and all…while sometimes even resorting to cannibalism.” He said and placed his hand on Hinata’s shoulder. “They chose that kind of life for a reason, I’ve never come by a raider who wasn’t a homicidal maniac. Don’t feel bad for killing them, you’re doing everyone in the wastes a favor.”

Tsukishima snorted and gave Hinata a condescending look. “Pitying scum like them is what’s going to get you killed.”

Daichi hummed in agreement. “This is going to be serious, so if you guys think your weapons won’t suffice, please choose something else from our arsenal.” He said to Hinata, Kageyama and the other two.

Tsukishima placed his hand gun on the table along with the ammunition he had been carrying. “Then I’d like something with more firepower and a better range.”

“Uhm… I don’t even have a gun.” Yamaguchi admitted quietly, lowering his head. He shuddered when Sugawara cheerfully slapped his shoulder.

“Then I’ll help you pick one! Come on.” He said with a smile and shoved Yamaguchi towards the table to take a better look at the various firearms on it.

Hinata eyed his father’s rifle and bit his lip. “I know I need something that with better reload speed that can be loaded with more ammo… But this rifle is special to me, I would rather keep using it.”

A bright smile formed on Tanaka’s lips. “If it’s really that important to you, we should build a mod for it. I’m sure there’s something I can do to improve that old thing’s performance.” he suggested.

“Thank you, Tanaka, you’re amazing!” Hinata shouted in delight and Tanaka laughed, while rubbing the back of his neck. “Aren’t I?”

Kiyoko quietly observed the scene, with slight concern in her eyes. “I will prepare some stimpacks, bandages and disinfectant just in case then.” She said, whereat Daichi gave her a smile.

“That would be appreciated. Thank you, Kiyoko.” He said and clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention. “Make sure to prepare yourself properly, we’ll head out soon. With the sun in our backs, aiming will be harder for those raiders.”

Hinata watched Daichi, who was now speaking with Narita and Kinoshita. He had really thought this through.

“Amazing…” Hinata muttered to himself. He noticed Sugawara glancing over to Daichi with slightly blushed cheeks, before turning around to help Yamaguchi pick out a weapon, but Hinata thought nothing of it.

“Come on, Hinata. Let’s take a look at your rifle!” Tanaka said and gave Hinata a gentle bump to his shoulder.

“Sure!” Hinata snapped out of his thoughts and quickly followed Tanaka to the weapons workbench right outside the room.

Kageyama watched Hinata leave with Tanaka and exhaled sharply. He looked at his own gun.

It was a pre-war submachine gun that sported a high rate of fire. In the hands of an amateur it’s low individual shot damage proved a disadvantage, but with Kageyama’s skillful aim, nearly every shot was a lethal one. He recalled the terrified faces of his fellow classmates a few years ago when he had taken out a horde of ghouls, that had lingered close to the vault, without reloading his gun once. A grin crossed his lips. He didn’t need any other weapon to take out those raiders. “This’ll do the job.”

Tsukishima eyed him from the side with a frown. “We get it, you’re better than all of us.” He muttered under his breath. He hadn’t noticed Daichi standing next to him and was surprised to hear his deep voice from behind.

“This mission requires teamwork. We have to work together, if we want to come out of this victorious.” He said and turned to everyone else in the room.

“Just to make this clear to everyone, if anyone decides to play the tough guy who handles everything himself and doesn’t act according to our plan, it could cost all of us our lives. I’m counting on you.” He said and gave both Tsukishima and Kageyama a smile.

But it was obvious that he was quite serious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And cliffhanger! But not for long, I'll make sure to update again soon. 
> 
> If you enjoyed this chapter (or the story in general so far), please consider leaving kudos or even a comment if you like ♡ Feedback is always appreciated, as well as suggestions~   
> If there are any of the teams you really want to see in this AU, let me know!
> 
> I don't want to say too much, but one of the other schools' teams will already make their first appearance in the next two chapters. Who do you think could it be?


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